Renegade
by Metalshadow1909
Summary: What happens to Tails when he begins to lose his faith? When and where will he find it again? Is he still a hero, or has he become something else? Rated T to be on the safe side.
1. Prologue

**Author's note: This story follows the events of a somewhat changed version of Sonic X. Season 1 never happened, Season 2 occurred in Mobius, and Season 3 stays the same. I'm gonna try to work a lot of Christianity into the story, so if you continue reading, don't complain please. If you have real criticism, you can offer it whenever you feel like. Please enjoy.**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Prologue**

_He heard Knuckles again: She's going to die, Tails!_

_He looked up: Everyone, please step off the bridge._

_The beeping resonated through the empty bridge._

_Robotnik: Tails, it's time._

_Sonic and Shadow loaded themselves into the Sonic Power Cannon._

_He flipped the safety off and prepared to fire. He waited for himself to pull the trigger, all the while knowing that he couldn't._

_He slammed his head on the control panel and yelled through his tears: I can't do it! I can't hurt Cosmo! Wasn't it a promise? When all this was over? You would come live with us!_

_Robotnik: Tails, do you want her sacrifice to be useless?_

_I can't shoot her._

_She spoke to him: Tails, forgive me for all the problems I brought upon you._

_He looked out at her: Cosmo, you never caused me any problems. I've been happy with you!_

_Shoot me._

_I can't do it! Cosmo, I love you!_

_He fired the cannon…_

(3 hours later)

"Tails, open up." This was Sonic's fifth time trying to get to Tails. He had locked himself in his room the second he had left the bridge. He was refusing to talk to anyone. Sonic might have thought that he had killed himself but for the quiet sobbing he could still hear on the other side of the door. Sonic sighed and walked away. The only thing he could do for his best friend now was pray. Pray that he wouldn't do anything rash. Pray that he wouldn't wind up dead inside. Pray that his wounds would heal.

(2 days later)

Tails lay curled up in his bed. He would have been crying, but he had no more tears to cry. He had left his quarters three times. Twice to get some food, the other to set the Blue Typhoon on a course for home. For some reason, everyone still looked at him as the captain. He knew, as they did, that he was in no shape to command a ship. He got up and decided that he should probably pass the torch before something went horribly wrong. He wrote a note pronouncing Sonic as the new captain and slid it under his door. They would find it when they came to check on him. As he stood up, he was blinded by a sudden bright flash. As he wondered what in his room could have possibly caused the flash, he opened his eyes and gasped. There before him was an angel. Tails cowered back in fear.

"Do not be afraid. The Lord has heard your cries, and has sent me with a message."

Tails suddenly felt guilty about the last words of his note. He had been in constant prayer these past 2 days, begging God to come and comfort him, wondering why he felt alone in the dark.

"These are the words of the Lord: 'Miles Prower, prepare yourself. You are going on a journey, a journey that will take you places you may not want to go, but this journey is necessary.'"

"Wait." Tails's voice was gruff from the crying and it's underuse. "What journey? Where am I going?"

"You will be sent to a place that needs you, but you may find that you need it more." Suddenly there was another blinding flash , this one leaving Tails unconscious.

(15 minutes later)

Sonic walked slowly towards Tails's room. He was beginning to think of these check-ups as a waste of time. He knew that Tails needed them, though. He was about to knock on the door when he noticed a note lying on the floor. He picked it up and read it:

_I can't go on commanding the ship like this. I'm a mess. Sonic's captain from now on. Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?_

Sonic panicked. He thought that Tails had finally snapped and decided to take his life. He ran up to the door. "Tails!" he yelled. No answer. "TAILS!" Sonic knocked down the door with a spin dash and was subsequently enveloped in a blinding light. When he was finally able to see again, he gasped. In front of him stood an angel.

"Do not be afraid. You seek Miles Prower. He is not here. He has been taken by the Spirit to a place where he will find healing."

The angel disappeared as suddenly as he had _a_ppeared. Sonic couldn't believe it. He walked into the room, and sure enough, Tails was gone. He went back and picked up the note, wondering what the last sentence was, and why he felt he had heard it before. He spoke into his comlink. "Espio, your the linguist here, what does this mean?" He read Espio the sentence.

"I don't need to be a linguist to know what that means. Jesus said it on the cross. Matthew 27:46: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"


	2. Chapter 1: Falling Inside the Black

_**Renegade**_

**Chapter 1: Falling Inside the Black**

Tails could see her, suspended in the darkness about 150 feet up. He began flying to her not even trying to contain his excitement. "Cosmo! Cosmo!"

She didn't seem to notice him until he was about20 feet from her. Then she began moving higher, away from him. "Tails, stay back. I don't want to cause you any trouble."

"I think I can choose if I want that trouble or not." Tails chased after her. "Just stop and we can go home."

"I'm sorry, Tails. As long as I'm with you, you will never know an end to your suffering."

"I'm only suffering because you aren't with me. Please, come back!" Tails began to cry. "Cosmo, don't you know me? I love you, no matter what. Though the Metarex ravaged Mobius, I love you. Though you informed them of our every move, I love you. Nothing will ever make me love you less."

"Tails, please understand. I love you too, which is why I can't be with you. The pain I would cause you would be too large a burden for me to bear. Please don't make me go through that." She continued her ascent.

"What about me? What about my pain? Doesn't that matter to you? Don't you care how _I_ feel?"

"Of course I do." She sighed. "Tails, maybe we weren't meant to be together."

At that, Tails froze up, stunned. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. In his shock he forgot to fly, and he began to fall down to the ground. He didn't even care to catch himself. He just fell, considering what Cosmo had just said. He didn't want to believe her, but it made total sense. He couldn't live without her, and she couldn't live _with_ her. To him, she was everything he had ever wanted; to her, she was everything she ever hated. Tails enjoyed being able to encourage her, to lift her spirits; she felt guilty that he had to. Maybe they just weren't meant to be. Then he remembered that day in the caves, and he knew that he was supposed to be with her. Love was about sacrifice. He sacrificed himself for what he expected to be thirty seconds more of her life when Shadow attacked her. He loved her, and no matter what she said, she loved him as well. Tails found solace in this thought as he hit the floor.


	3. Chapter 2: Day One, Part One

_**Renegade**_

**Chapter 2: Day One**

If I'm going to tell this story properly, I guess I should start from the beginning, but first, I think an introduction is in order. My name is John Colman, and I work for the _Station_, the local newspaper here in Station Square. That's how I got wrapped up in this whole escapade, and thank God I did. Anyway, I should probably get on with the story.

I was in the office on a Tuesday afternoon, trying to find something interesting to write about, when our editor, Lansing, charged out of his office. "Colman!" he yelled. "There's a big story waiting for you at the bridge! Some low-lifes have kidnapped the Mayor's daughter. Now they're holding her for ransom."

I started collecting my stuff. "At the bridge? Do they _want_ to get killed?"

"They've got some fancy-pants machine hooked up to her. If they die, she dies. They're so proud of it that they decided to invite anyone who thinks they can to deactivate the machine. So far, no one's been able to crack it, and they can't destroy it because it's hooked up to enough C4 to blow the bridge."

"Thanks for the info, chief. I'll be there in fifteen minutes." I walked out the door. Little did I know that this job would change my life forever.

When I got down to the bridge, I wasn't surprised to see that the cops had set up a perimeter around the situation. There were people standing all around, staring at the spectacle. I pushed my way to the front of the crowd in order to get a clear view of what was happening. There were three kidnappers. One of them, apparently the leader, was wearing a steel breastplate or harness, which was linked to this big machine. I spotted the white van that they must have used to get it out here. I also saw the Mayor's daughter, cowering at the feet of her captors, crying, begging the crowd with her eyes for someone to come and save her.

I spoke to a man in the crowd. "Hey, has anybody tried to shut that thing down?"

"Yeah, but not recently. Four have tried and failed. The kidnappers got frustrated and said that anyone else who tries and fails will die." I looked at the two other kidnappers. They each had machine guns, and they looked like they were getting restless. "No one's tried since they put out that threat. Hold on, someone's going." We both stared as a shabbily dressed man walked up to the machine. He looked as if he hadn't had a shower or a real meal for weeks. The kidnappers laughed at him and jeered him as he approached the machine, but he continued on. I offered up a quick prayer for the man, as well as for the poor girl who had been captured by these monsters.

As the crowd looked on, the man began to fiddle with the machine. He was there for about fifteen minutes. He got it open and revealed its mechanical intestines. Then he proceeded to cut wires, even going so far as to crawl inside of it. There was an audible gasp form the crowd when all the lights on the machine shut off. The kidnappers were not happy at all. They grabbed the man and put a pistol to his head. Then they spoke for the first time. "This is what happens when we don't get our money!" the leader yelled. He turned towards the man, about to pull the trigger, when somebody yelled and pointed to the top of one f the skyscrapers next to the bridge. Everyone's eyes, including those of the kidnappers, followed the woman's finger. We could see a form at the top of the building, looking down at us. Suddenly, it jumped down. We were all too horrified to make a sound. We watched the figure fall out of the sky, straight towards the kidnappers. It took all of two seconds for it to land in a cloud of dust in front of them. They're eyes were wide. They knew something we didn't. They jumped into their van and drove off. We looked back at the figure. Another audible gasp. It was a mutant fox, with two tails, and two black sheaths on his back.


	4. Chapter 3: Day One, Part Two

_**Renegade**_

**Chapter 3: Day One, Part 2**

Before anyone could make a sound, the creature was gone, running after the van. We looked on as he bolted away, faster than a cheetah. It-or he-soon caught up to the van, then overtook it. I began running across the bridge, the direction the action had fled. However, knowing that I could never catch up, I decided to go talk to the man that had shut down the machine. I was about to turn around when I saw the van flip on its side. Though I thought it was a bad idea to turn my back on the fight, I thought it would be worse if I let a lead get away. I walked back towards the crowd, up to where the man stood, watching. I went and introduced myself.

"Sir, hi, my name is John Colman, I'm a reporter with the _Station_. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

The man sighed. "Sure, why not." He offered his hand. "Name's Nick, Nick Pouser."

"Nice to meet you, Nick Pouser. I guess my first question would be: how did you shut down that machine when no one else could?"

"Well, I believe it was the Lord who sent me that inspiration, in the form of that guy." He pointed across the bridge and smiled. I looked back, and there was the fox. My eyes came back to Nick, who was now frowning.

"Really?" I asked, hoping to sound genuinely interested, because I was. "Can you tell me about him?"

"I can tell you that I better stop him from doing something stupid!" With that he took off down the bridge. "Miles! Miles, stop!" My gaze returned to the fox, and I gaped as he drew one of his swords. In his other hand, he had one of the kidnappers by the collar. He looked like he was begging for mercy. I took off running after Nick.

I arrived at the scene as Nick was trying to talk his friend Miles out of slashing the kidnapper's head off. "Miles, relax. You already saved that poor little girl. She's over there. Your job's done! We can go!"

"What about the next girl, and the one after that?" I gasped when I heard his voice. It was raspy, like he had started to lose his voice. "This has to stop" he continued. "And if I don't stop it, who will. How many lives will these guys destroy, how many have they already destroyed?" It was then that I looked into his eyes, and what I saw there set the tone for this entire adventure. I saw sorrow, loss, anger. I saw all the fresh, bleeding wounds of his soul. A lifetime of pain housed in the eyes of a kid who could be no older than fifteen. Then I heard something I hadn't heard in a long time. It was a voice in my head, but it wasn't my conscience. I had heard a calling from God before, but never one like this. _Help him._ I had decided long ago that when God spoke, it was a horrible idea to ignore him.

"Miles, the cops can handle it!"

"No!" he yelled. "I will do everything in _my_ power to stop them. No more lives will ever be ruined because I failed to act!"

"Tails!" At that, I saw Miles drop his eyes. "It's not up to you. How many times have we been through this. No matter how you feel, God is still out there!"

"I thought I told you not to call me that" Miles said dejectedly.

"Only if I thought it was completely necessary. And it was. Remember who you are."

This last statement only fueled Miles's anger. "I know who I am! I'm the guy that stands between them," he said pointing at the kidnapper, "and the innocent people of this city."

Miles looked like he had finally decided to kill the kidnapper. I actually thought he was going to do it when Nick spoke up again. He sighed, "Sorry about this." Miles gave him a sideways glance. "Tails, what do you think Cosmo would want you to do?"

Suddenly, I saw the rage disappear from Miles's eyes. It was replaced by tears. "She would want me to stop." He choked out these words as he let the kidnapper fall to the ground, limp, unconscious.

"C'mon Miles. Let's go home. You'd better hide out while I bring the bike."

"Wait." I spoke without even thinking. "I can drive you." I couldn't let this kid get away. I had been give a mission, and I wasn't one to accept failure.

"I don't know, Mister Colman. We don't really want to draw attention to ourselves." He gave me a mistrusting look.

"Don't worry. This won't make it into my story. I promise."

Nick thought for a moment. He looked at Miles, who was now on his knees, with a blank look on his face. "Alright, Mister Colman, lead on." Nick turned around and hefted Tails onto his shoulder. "He gets like that sometimes" he explained when I gave him a questioning look. I didn't press the matter as I led them to my car.

Nick sat in the passenger seat, giving me directions as I drove him and Miles home. When I noticed that he kept looking at Miles in the back seat, I chanced a glance. I saw him curled up on the seat, chest heaving, and I realized he was sobbing. "Hey Nick, is there something wrong?" I asked as quietly as I could.

"Please, we don't want any reporters printing stuff about us."

"Then I'll push the reporter aside, but I'm still human. Is there something I can help with?"

"Not really. I don't feel free to tell you anything about Miles. Talk to him later if you want."

"Alright, then let's talk about you. You seem to put a lot of faith in God."

"Yes, sir."

"That's good, so do I."

"Really? A Christian reporter? That's something you don't see every day."

"Yeah, it kinda gets suppressed at work. Anyway, there's something you should know. When I saw Miles on that bridge today, I felt something. I think God has called me to help him."

"Unbelievable!" Nick shouted joyfully.

"What?"

"I heard that call when I first found Miles, and I've been praying for some help ever since."

"Why? Is it that hard of a job?" Nick gave me a "duh" look and pointed at Miles. I looked back again. He was still curled up, but he had stopped crying and fallen asleep.

"Remember when I said he gets like that sometimes." A sad smile appeared on his face. "That was code for at least once almost every day."

"What happened?"

He held up his hand. "Ask him when we stop."

It turned out we only had about ten minutes left in the trip. When we got there, I couldn't help staring. "Home" was the word that they liked to use to describe an alley in the Ditch. The Ditch was the sleazy part of town, the place where cops were scarce and people that would help you were scarcer. I knew I couldn't leave them here, especially not with Miles in this state. "Uhh, Nick, why don't I take you guys to my place?"

"I don't think Miles will like that. He likes it here."

"Really? Even if he does, he's in no state to be out here. He'll be dead by morning." It was already getting dark. Nick thought again. "It's only about fifteen minutes away" I offered

"Fine, it's probably for the best anyway. Let's go." Nick and I made small talk for the entirety of our trip to my house. When we got there, he opened the back door and carried Miles into the house.

"You can just set him on the couch. Do you want anything to eat, Nick?"

"Well, I don't mean to impose." Miles stirred. I looked over and found him curled up and crying again. Nick grimaced. "Oops."

"Listen, I've had a crazy day. I'm gonna go to sleep. Feel free to raid the fridge. Wake me if you need anything." I went into my bedroom. Honestly, I was a little nervous about having two homeless in my house, one being a sword wielding mutant fox. God, if I'm doing the right thing, please give me peace. The nervousness suddenly left me, and I fell asleep content.


	5. Chapter 4: Miles

_**Renegade**_

**Chapter 4: Miles**

When I woke up in the morning, I got dressed and headed out my bedroom door. I saw Nick sleeping in the easy chair and almost gave out a yell, but then the memory of what had happened yesterday came back to me. I looked over at the couch to see how Miles was doing. He must have been feeling better, because he was gone. I was horrified. I ran all around the house searching for him. I finally gave up searching after half an hour, and instead tried to figure out how I was going to explain to Nick that Miles had disappeared. I was about to wake him when I heard the window behind me open. I pulled my .22 out of the drawer in the coffee table and turned around as fast as I could. Before I noticed that it was Miles who had just come in, he had taken my gun and was now aiming it at me. "Whoa! Miles it's you. Oh thank God. Where have you been?" He still had the gun trained on me. "And can you please give me the gun."

He spun the gun around and handed it back to me. "Sorry, just a little on edge."

"Me too." I decided it was a good time for me to introduce myself. "John Colman" I said, extending my hand.

"Miles Prower" he said, taking it. "Sorry Nick dragged you into my life."

"Actually, I dragged myself into it. Hey, would you like something to eat?"

"Not now, thank you, I'm not that hungry." I noticed that a sad smile was the only kind he could muster, and only for a second.

Nick, who had been stirring while we spoke, suddenly sat up. "No you don't Miles! You haven't eaten any real food in days." He looked up at me. "Give him something."

"What?" I had no idea what two tailed mutant foxes ate.

"Give him some cereal, he'll eat that," he said, then muttered, "usually."

I went to go get some cereal for Miles. When I came back, I decided to ask him some questions. "Miles, can I ask you a few questions?"

"You can ask. I may not answer."

"Fair enough. Where are you from? Like, are you a mutant fox from Earth, or are you an alien, or what?" Miles sighed. "I don't mean to be rude."

"It's okay. As far as I can tell, I'm from an alternate dimension."

"Really? Is there a time difference or anything like that?"

"No. Our years are different lengths, but time is the same."

"Speaking of years, how old are you, Miles?"

"Back home, I'm eight. Here, I'm almost fifteen." Fourteen? He looked like he could be twice that age. His voice, his unkempt fur, his eyes had apparently all aged prematurely.

"How long have you been here on Earth, Miles?"

"Two months" he said matter-of-factly. I gawked. How had nobody noticed him in two months! Then I remembered that he lived in the Ditch. Nobody had noticed him because nobody went in there to sightsee. And that's when it hit me.

I had gotten a lead on a story a month ago. It seemed that the crime rate on the outskirts of the Ditch was dropping, especially rapes. In my investigation, I discovered that someone had decided to fight back. No one could describe the vigilante to me. All they could say was that he moved fast and didn't seem to be entirely human. I looked across the table at Miles. "Miles, where were you this morning?" I asked, trying to hide my intentions.

"Richard Shnell was up to his old tricks again. He had to be stopped."

"Shnell, the guy who just got paroled?"

"Yeah. Better not happen again." A dark look came over Miles's eyes as he said that. I was worried. The vigilante-Miles- had killed three people over his career. I suddenly realized what that meant. I was harboring a murderer. Sure those guys deserved death. They were all murderers themselves. But didn't everyone deserve death? Miles knew what I was thinking. "One was an accident, the other two were self-defense."

I prayed silently, asking God what I should do. _Help him._ I realized that I still had no real idea of who I was dealing with, or how I could possibly help him. "Hey, Miles, I have and idea. You can stay in my house, but I have to hear your story."

"Why?"

"Because I feel that God's calling me to help you" I said, knowing full well how lame that sounded. "And I'm curious."

"You too? I honestly don't think there's anything you can do for me" he said quietly, eyes downcast.

"I have to try."

"Alright, deal." Suddenly his head snapped up and his muscles tensed. He sat there for two seconds, then rushed to the window. "I'll be back later!" he yelled, and as I looked on, he used his two tails as a rotor and lifted himself off the ground and out the window. He hadn't touched his cereal.

I watched him fly away. "Wow" I said to myself.

Nick laughed. "I gave up saying that last week." I looked over at him.

"Nick, what should I do?"

"About what?"

"About Miles. I mean, he's a mutant fox from another dimension. Not only that, he spends his days catching rapists."

"That only happens when he's not feeling too bad."

"And he's depressed!" I was exasperated. "Thank you for reminding me! Plus, he's killed three people." Nick looked at me gave me a look, as if he were trying to decide whether to tell me something or not. "Nick, it is three people, right?"

"Actually, it's five."

"What happened with the other two guys?" I asked, afraid to know the answer.

"Miles…he, uh,…he kinda lost control of himself. Let things get out of hand. He should probably be the one to tell you about it." Wonderful, a _psycho_ mutant two tailed fox.


	6. Chapter 5: Evac

**AN: To the people who think that this isn't Tails, I have to say that you are absolutely right. This is not Tails. Read on, review, and feel free to tell me if and why I suck!**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Chapter 5: Evac**

I honestly didn't know what to do. I knew what God was calling me to do, and I figured helping him meant being around him and understanding him. I also thought about what a great story this would make. It made me feel kind of like Lois Lane, hanging out with an extraterrestrial superhero as a job. I did, however, feel a little guilty, as if I was exploiting Miles. About five minutes after Miles left, my landline suddenly rang. I wondered who still called landlines as I lifted the receiver to my ear.

"Put me on speaker!" I could hear labored breathing on the other line. I turned the speaker on.

Nick was next to me. He heard the long, drawn breaths. "Miles, is that you?"

"Yeah, I need an evac, now!"

"What? What happened?"

"I don't know. I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." Suddenly we could hear gunshots. I looked worriedly at Nick. "Can't talk! Courtyard and Maple!" The line went dead. We rushed out the door and hurried into my car.

"I really hope this isn't what we think it is!" I said as we drove off.

Nick gave me a worried look. "What do you think it is?"

I sighed. "Richard Snell is a big time mob boss. He owns clubs all around town. His base of operations is the _Calizar_, on Courtyard and Maple."

"Wait, why would Miles get caught up with him?"

"Well, it seems they've met, multiple times in fact. Snell was just sent to jail again, after he was paroled. Miles didn't seem too happy about it. It probably doesn't help that Snell likes to get girls off the street and sell them as sex slaves. If he got involved with some of Snell's goons so close to home, we're probably gonna drive up to a full scale siege." We drove in silence for the rest of the ten minute trip.

I inched up to the intersection. There were no other cars on the road, and I was pretty sure I knew why. I looked around, ready to wet my pants at the first sight of any human life. To anyone else, this would be an ordinary inner-city intersection, four stoplights and a manhole to top it off. Of course, anyone who knew what I knew wouldn't dream of showing up here. I had done an article on Snell two years ago, just when he had begun to climb the social ladder of the underworld. It was suicide to come around with a cop then, how much worse would it be for someone aiding the guy who put the big guy in jail at least twice?

Nick took a device out of his pocket. It looked like some sort of beetle. "It's Miles" he told me. "Go ahead."

"Open the sun-roof." I did as I was instructed, then began looking around ot the tops of the buildings, wondering where Miles could be. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was out there, along with Snell's boys. We waited in the car for what seemed like hours. Still nothing.

Then the manhole cover suddenly blasted into the air. Miles followed it. My eyes lost him for a second as he quickly snatched the cover from the air and held it in front of him, facing the _Calizar_. He barely got it up in time before a wall of bullets erupted from the club. We could hear the metal ringing from 20 feet below. As he reached the peak of his motion, Miles pulled a back flip, in the same motion kicking the metal disk at the club. It crashed through the window as Miles came through the open sun-roof. "Go!" he yelled, although I didn't need much encouragement. I peeled out.

After I was sure that we weren't being followed, I gave a sigh of relief. "So, Miles, want to tell us what ha-Miles! Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" I about lost my mind as I turned around and faced a bloody mess. I pulled over and stopped the car.

"Don't stop! I'll be-gah- fine! We'll be si-(cough)-sitting ducks out here! It's nothing!" It was obvious that Miles was in a lot of pain, and I could see why.

I jumped out of the car and opened the back door. "Nick, there's a first aid kit in the trunk!" Nick hurried over and got it to me. He seemed to be handling this rather calmly. Probably not the first time he'd seen Miles like this. "Miles, I'm going to need you to tell me where your hurt."

"One gunshot wound on each tail-grr-and another on my right shoulder. And a stab wound on my back." I went to work bandaging these areas, as Miles tried to stifle his pained cries. When I was finished, he looked around frantically. "Did anyone follow us?"

"No. I can't bel-"

"Dang it!" Miles yelled in frustration. "Who knows what they're doing to her!" He pulled out a com-link and flipped it on. We could hear whimpering on the other side. Miles dropped to his knees, a defeated look in his eyes. That look was quickly replaced by determination. He spoke quietly into the communicator. "Cassie, I'm sorry I couldn't save you." I looked over at Nick for an explanation. He just shrugged. "I failed you. I wish I could tell you that everything will be ok, that no one's going to hurt you, but I can't. All I know is that I will never give up. I will not abandon you to this fate. I will come back for you." Miles began to cry.


	7. Chapter 6: Miles's Story, Part One

_**Renegade**_

**Chapter 6: Miles's Story, Part One**

Miles knelt there on the street, sobbing. "Why did this happen?" His voice cracked. "What did I do to deserve this? God, where are you? Why have you forsaken me?" Nick picked him up and put him back in the car. We got in and drove back to my house. Miles had calmed down by the time we drove up. I couldn't possibly imagine what Miles was going through, which meant that I couldn't possibly help him. It was depressing, knowing that someone was hurting and not being able to do anything about it.

At the house, Miles just sat on the couch, looking out into space, not seeing anything in front of him. I sat down next to him. "Miles?" He broke out of his trance and looked at me. "Do you think you'd be up to starting your story now?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. I'm fine." I looked him over. He had bloody bandages all over his body, but I knew those wounds were only superficial. Miles's soul was suffering from far worse injuries, and perhaps I could finally take a glimpse at them. "Well, let's start with the introductions. I'm Miles Prower and I come from some other dimension, as I've already told you. What you do not know about me is that I have a 300 IQ and enjoy building machines. I lived on a planet called Mobius. I was born just a few years before a major coup that set a tyrannical regime headed by Robotnik. This guy is just as smart as me, but he decided that helping people out was just too much work than it was worth. He had tried, but all it had gotten him was a dead daughter and a life sentence in prison. So instead, he just decided that he wanted to be in charge. He built up this massive army of robots and took the capital city by force. Then he started with the roboticizations. He turned all of the inhabitants that he could round up into cyborgs who had no free will. There were some that were able to escape, but most…" he looked down. "Most people weren't so lucky. My parents didn't make it." Miles stared off into space again. "I wish…I wish I knew what it would have been like, growing up with a family, not getting caught up in all these wars."

"Wars? You lost me there."

"Oh, right. Sorry. Anyways, those of us who got away banded together to for the Freedom Fighters. We waged war with Robotnik for two years. We hid out in the Great Forest, where he was never able to reach us."

"Hold up. Who was with you in this group of Freedom Fighters?"

"There was me, Sonic the Hedgehog, who was our champion and might as well have been my big brother. He could run faster than sound. There was Princess Sally Acorn, who was the brains of the operation. Bunny Rabbot, who was half roboticized; Antoine D'Coolette, a cadet from the Royal Guard; Rotor, my mentor; Amy Rose, crazy hedgehog who always chases Sonic around and had _major_ anger issues; Cream the Rabbit, she always has her best friend Cheese with her; the Chaotix Detective Agency, Espio the Chameleon, Vector Crocodile, and Charmy Bee; and Knuckles the Echidna showed up every once in a while, he'll be important later. Anyway, we were all caught up in this war. We almost lost, too, but God intervened and gave Sonic unimaginable power. We took back the kingdom, and Sally became Queen. Antoine rejoined the Guard, and took his new wife bunny with him. Life was looking up, but then Robotnik came back. He terrorized people, pretty much becoming a terrorist. He never resurrected his empire, thanks to those previously mentioned." He paused. "I miss them. Well, John, I think that concludes part one of my story. Now, I really have to go." He stood up to leave, but then cried out in pain and surprise as he fell back into the chair. "What the heck? What's wrong with me?"

"What's wrong with you? What do you think is wrong with you, you have fresh wound all over you!"

"Well, they should have healed by now?"

"C'mon. Now you're going to tell me you have super-healing like Wolverine?"

"I love that movie, and it's not just healing." He tenderly stood up and turned his back towards me. "See this?" He pointed at his sheaths, which crossed each other. There was a circular device where they met, with a lightning bolt in the middle. "It's an ES system. It boosts the amount of electrical activity in my brain. With it, all bodily functions are sped up."

"That's…that's amazing. Did you design it?"

"Yeah."

"Wait, when you said "all bodily functions", does that include, uh, going to the bathroom?"

He gave me another one of his sad smiles. "Yeah. I had to learn the hard way how to route power through my body. Now, the energy flows only where and when I need it," his smile suddenly faded as he added, "usually. But there's something wrong. Normally, healing just happens. Unless… John, which way is the lightning bolt facing? Is it right side up?"

"No, no it's upside down."

"Nick!" Miles tried storming into the kitchen, but his injuries made it more of a hobble. I followed him. We found Nick making lunch. "Nick, switch me back, now!" Miles was furious about something, but I couldn't tell what.

Nick looked at him and said in a firm tone, "Miles, you were almost completely drained. You need to recharge before you go out and get yourself killed."

"If I don't go out, Cassie's gonna get _her_self killed!" Nick and I still had no idea who Cassie was.

"You won't be able to help her like this!"

Miles turned to me, exasperated. "John, I need you to do me a favor. See that circle on my back? Turn it until the lightning is right-side up!"

"Hold on, what will that do?"

"Well, it will change my ES system from recharge mode back to standby mode, allowing me to use it."

"Nick, why'd you shut him down?"

"He was only at 2% power. He can't let it get down to zero."

I continued in my role as moderator. "Miles, what happens when it reaches zero?" He glared at me. "What happens when it reaches zero?"

"I lose my speed, my flight, and my enhanced thought processing. Plus injuries will become more deadly. Of course, all of this happens when it's in recharge mode as well, and I'm going to get Cassie, with or without my ES system. I can't believe I waited this long for nothing!"

I had no idea what to say. How could I convince him that he needed to stay here? "Miles, think for a second! If you go and try to rescue Cassie now, Snell's men will massacre you! You won't save Cassie, and all the other Cassie's out there will have no one to protect them!"

Miles looked dejectedly at the floor. "I…I didn't think about that. You're right."

I silently thanked God for speaking for me. I felt kind of like Moses. "Good. Now if you don't mind, we should eat lunch and then hear some more of your story." I really hadn't learned much from part one of his story, at least not about why he was depressed. You'd think losing his parents at a young age would be the problem, but he barely put any emphasis on the event. No, the real problem lied at the heart of part two.


	8. Chapter 7: Miles's Story, Part Two

**AN: This chapter was so hard to write, especially since I was looking ahead to the awesomeness of next chapter (I think it's the next one). Anyways, get ready to get psychoanalyzing, cause we crack Miles wide open right here!**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Chapter 7: Miles's Story, Part Two**

"All right" Miles said, sitting back on the couch after barely touching his lunch. "Since you two refuse to let me out of this place, I need to make a call." He pulled out his com-link. "Cassie, can you hear me?"

"Miles?" came the weak reply. "You scared me. I'll never get used to this."

"Good" Miles said with one of his sad smiles. "I guess they haven't done anything too bad to you."

"No, I'm fine. They have me locked up in a back room, though."

"Great! Do your best to stay there. I'm coming for you, Cassie, but it will be a few days."

"No! Miles, you can't show up here! They're expecting you, and who knows what they'll do to you. Just let me die."

"Oh, I'll let you die, alright. In about eighty years! Now, I gotta go before they notice anything. Stay alive! Talk to you later." He put the communicator away and noticed that I was staring. "What?"

"Exactly who _is_ Cassie?"

"We'll get to that…probably. Now, part two of my story. Robotnik became little more than a nuisance, as I said. However, we were about to face a new enemy. The Metarex."

"And what were they after?"

"Break it down. 'Metarex' means 'Metal Kings'. They wanted to rule the universe. They came from a plant based race, but some grew power-hungry during a war and they turned themselves into cyborgs. They built a massive robot army and began taking over any planets they encountered. Before they started building their empire, though, they had the rest of their race to think about. Their minds had become so twisted that they thought their race had betrayed them. They, who had destroyed their own planet to gain power, were the heroes in their own demented eyes." I saw that Miles was very passionate about this part of the story. "They hunted down the space station housing their race, and killed off all of them, except for one." Miles nearly began to cry, but he held it together. "That was Cosmo…She crash landed on our planet, the night our planet egg was stolen. A planet egg is that planet's life force. The Metarex needed them to fuel Operation: Forestation, in which all life would be transformed into plant-based beings."

"That's ironic. One war against a greedy industrialist, another against a power hungry environmentalist" I said. Miles didn't seem to find any humor in it.

"You could say that. Anyway, Cosmo came to our planet, and we lost our planet egg. When she told us what was going on with the Metarex, we knew we had to stop them. Cream, Knuckles, Sonic, Amy, Cosmo, and I took a space station I had built up into space-"

"Hold on, a space station?"

"Well, it was more of a space aircraft carrier, but yeah."

"And you built it?"

"You bet. Now, we went after the Metarex-"

"Wait." Miles looked at me, clearly annoyed. "Sorry, but you didn't tell me anything about Cosmo. Except that she was a plant -based life form. What was she like?"

"Well, she hated the Metarex for killing her people, and she hated herself for hating them. She never really had any self-esteem. She was always putting herself down for every mistake she made." Miles started to get that blank look in his eyes. "That's why I loved her. I enjoy helping people, and she always needed reminding that she wasn't a liability to our mission. And she was beautiful."

"She your girlfriend?"

Miles held up a hand. "May I continue?" I nodded. "We went after the Metarex, and we had to fight so many battles, I can't even remember them all, and I was the captain! It seemed that we couldn't win. At last, we came to the final battle. The Metarex had begun the final phase of Forestation. They were trying to create a whole new universe, a process which would destroy ours." Miles looked like he was about to puke. "And then Cosmo saved the day. The end!" He turned his face away, trying to draw the conversation to a close.

I knew this was my first chance to actually figure out how to help Miles, so I kept pressing. "Wait. Obviously there was something between you and Cosmo, but then something happened during that final battle. Miles, If I'm going to help you, you have to let me in." Miles began to sob softly. "Miles, what happened?" No answer. "Miles!" Nick tried to stop my investigation, but I rejected him. "No, Nick! He needs this. He needs someone who can help him. He has to let go of the pain. Miles, I'm trying to help. The pain is only part of the healing."

"Alright!" he yelled through his sobs, his voice cracking. "You want me to feel the pain? Then fine! I loved her! Do you know how long I waited, how long I prayed, that God would bring me the perfect girl? Well, he finally delivered! The universe was collapsing around me, but that was the happiest time of my life! Now let's skip to the end! That last battle! We were on the verge of losing, and you know what happened? God allowed Cosmo to transform into a being so powerful, she could contain the energy of an entire universe! So that's what she did! That's the only reason we were able to defeat the Metarex! But even with her containing Dark Oak, we still needed to destroy him! And guess who had to take the last shot! That's right, Mr. Captain! Me! Do you know how long I prayed for God to show me a different way, for him not to take her from me? But that's when God decided to head off somewhere! I was alone, abandoned to my fate! And you know what, I've suffered for two months, with no respite! God just doesn't seem to care anymore! And to top it off, whenever I try to do anything right now, I end up screwing it up. I try to help people, to make sure that no one will lose their chance at the perfect relationship God has for them, but I wind up killing five people! Yeah, it's five! Wanna know what happened with the two other guys? They said some things about how only a freak would dig me! You'd think I could just laugh it off, but no, for literally one second, I thought about killing them, but that was all it took! One second of anger! That was when I learned that I couldn't trust myself anymore! I couldn't control y emotions anymore, not after what happened to Cosmo! I died that day! That night is the cause of all my problems! God wasn't with me then, and he certainly isn't with me now! Look at what happened this morning!" Throughout this whole tirade, Miles had been crying. Now he curled up into a ball, his sobbing no longer quiet. I stared in awe at him. I couldn't imagine what kind of pain Miles must have been going through over the past two months, but I felt that I could finally understand him. He obviously had a major hero complex, and thanks to the loss of Cosmo, it was mainly geared toward stopping sex crimes. Miles wanted everyone to be able to have that perfect relationship that he had lost. It was also clear that he had issues with abandonment that stemmed from his belief that God had left him high and dry. This explained why he insisted on rescuing Cassie as soon as possible, and why he made sure that he would be able to contact her. Now that I understood his problems, I just needed to find a solution for them. I prayed that God would help me, because Miles's wounds were deep and poisoned.


	9. Chapter 8: Cosmo

**AN: Finally I get this done! There's something you guys should know. When Miles is talking about the time he modified Cosmo's room, it's a flashback and that's why the writing style changes. Something else you guys should know: I like reviews, so please leave some. They don't even have to be positive (just don't curse me out). Must have the precious reviews!**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Chapter 8: Cosmo**

Well, after Miles's tirade last night, we all just fell to not talking. The night drew to a close in silence. We woke up the next morning. Still nothing. Finally, my boss called.

"John, where the hell are you? You haven't come in in two days!" he yelled.

"I know, I-"

"Don't give me excuses! And what about the kidnapping story? A mutant fox comes and saves the day, and the _Station_ is the only paper that doesn't run the story! Are you _trying_ to get fired?"

"No, chief. I've just been busy."

"Busy? What could be more important than a chance at the biggest story this city's ever seen? Now get out there and find that freak show! I want name, origin, age, everything!"

"First: he's not a freak show. Second: his name is Miles Prower, he's from an alternate dimension, and in Earth years, he's fourteen."

He laughed. "Yeah, sure. Fourte…Wait, how do you know all this?"

Oh, boy. I was dead. "Well, he's sorta…staying…at my house-"

"He's staying at your house and I have nothing on him? Are you kidding me?"

"He's just a kid, and he needs hel-"

"Oh, no. Here we go again. John, you're a reporter. You need to stop trying to fix every little problem you find. _Objectivity_, man."

Suddenly I remembered a quote from possibly the most stupid movie in the world. It kinda felt wrong to quote it in this serious conversation, but I had to. I put on my best Mexican accent. "Maybe I am not meant for this duty. Reporting duty. Maybe it's time for me to get a better duty!"

"Are you seriously quoting Nacho at me? Your job is at stake! What are you going to do without the _Station_? I made you into who you are!"

He just kept setting himself up. Honestly, that job had gotten on my last nerve. "You gave me no eagle powers. You gave me no nutrients."

"You continue?"

"Yeah right. Then I'd get kicked out of the monestary."

"Well you just did! You're fired!"

"I'm not listening to you, you cracy." With that, I ended the call. I felt strangely free, free to do what I had felt called to do for a while. _I'm going out into the Wilderness. Probably, to die._ I really have seen that movie too many times.

After that, I looked for Miles around the house. I was a little worried when I couldn't find him. I was a lot worried when I couldn't find him in my second search. "Nick, do you know where Miles is?"

"He's probably outside somewhere. He likes to be alone and think sometimes."

"Thanks." I checked my yard. Still couldn't find him. Now I was freaking out. I thought maybe he had gone after Cassie. Then I looked up. I gave an audible sigh of relief. I climbed up to where Miles had been sitting on the roof. He didn't even seem to notice me. "Miles?"

He sighed."What?"

"Can I talk to you?"

"You can try."

I wondered what I could say that wouldn't trigger a negative reaction. It was really hard to find something. "Why don't you tell me a little more about Cosmo."

"There's nothing to say. Words will never be able to describe her."

That gave me an idea. "Then don't use words. Why don't you give me a play by play of your relationship? From the beginning."

Miles hesitated, then relented. "Well, it all started when she crash landed on Mobius. Every chance I get to help people, I take it. This was one of those chances, only it was different. She wasn't just being attacked by some giant robot. She had real problems. She was insecure, and she was always so depressed, so I made it my mission to help her with those issues." He looked out at the horizon, smiling. This wasn't one of his sad smiles, though. It was one of pure joy. "She never wanted to be a nuisance to anyone, and sometimes, that could be a problem. About a week after we took off in the Blue Typhoon, it was obvious that Cosmo was getting sick. Unfortunately, no one could figure out what was wrong with her:

_When Cosmo walked onto the bridge that morning, everyone stared at her in shock. Her pale green skin was now almost as dark as her hair, and she looked like she hadn't slept the entire trip. "Why…why is everyone staring at me?" she asked in a weak whisper._

"_Cosmo, are you sure you're not sick?" asked Cream._

"_No, honestly, I'm fine. I pro…probably just have space sickness." From there the conversation turned to other things, but Tails confronted Amy later in the day._

"_Amy, do you have any idea what's wrong with Cosmo?"_

"_No, I wish I did. She's really sick, but I don't know anything about their race or their anatomy? It's strange to think what it must be like, seeing as she's a plant."_

"_Yeah. I just wish I could do someth…Amy, you're a genius!"_

"_Wait, what?"_

"_Can you get Cosmo to sleep in your room tonight?" Tails looked excited._

"_Umm…okay, I guess so. Does this mean you found the problem?"_

"_Yeah! I just can't believe how stupid I was being. It's so simple! Alright, I'm going back to the bridge. Remember, I need Cosmo out of her room the whole night." So the day passed without any other notable occurrence. That night, however, Tails was hard at work remodeling Cosmo's room. He turned the room into a giant sauna, which would provide Cosmo with all the nutrient-enriched water she needed. He also added fluorescent lighting on the ceiling above her bed, allowing her to undergo photosynthesis while she slept. Now all he had to do was wait until after tomorrow night to see if it worked._

_The next day passed uneventfully, and Tails awoke early the morning after, anxious to see if his solution had worked. The others joined him on the bridge as they arose, and sure enough, when Cosmo appeared, she looked even better than she had when she had first arrived on Mobius._

"_Are you feeling better, Cosmo?"_

"_Actually, yes, I'm much better. I don't know what you guys did, but thank you." Later that day, she approached Tails. "Tails, Amy told me what you did. Thank you."_

"_Don't mention it, Cosmo. I'm just glad I could help. Why didn't you tell us what was wrong?"_

"_Well, I didn't want to be a burden to anyone."_

"_From now on, don't be afraid to voice your problems. You've got a ship full of people who are ready to help."_

_Cosmo smiled. "Thank you, Tails."_

"Needless to say, that was one of the best days of my life. It was just…" He gave a contented sigh. "I can't even describe the feeling I had. She was happy, which made me happy."

I could tell Miles was enjoying these memories. "Did you have any more experiences like that?"

"Oh, yeah! I could go on all day about it." And so we did. Miles told me about one time when he and Cosmo were trapped in an underground cave system, how they had wound up finding a chaos emerald and shutting down a chaos emerald factory that the Metarex were running, and how he had insisted that Cosmo had made it all possible. Then he moved on to when the most powerful mortal being in the universe had tried to kill Cosmo. Then, of course, came the end. I found it sadly ironic that Miles had been willing to give his own life to save hers, and yet he had to take hers to save the universe.

"Miles, you said you died that day. What were you like before that?"

His mood had declined as we had reached the end of the story. "Well, I was happy, optimistic. You know, I had a nickname back then. People used to call me Tails."

"Really? That sounds…"

"Happy and optimistic?" he asked with a sad smile. "Yeah, that's why I dropped it. My voice was different, too. I never knew countenance had any effect on voice." I tried picturing Miles without the hoarse, Batman-ish voice, but it was difficult. "Unfortunately, my control over my emotions also apparently died with Tails. Now I have to keep myself on a leash."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I killed those two guys, it was because my body moved before I could think about what I was doing. That happened because I was able to tap into as much of the energy of my ES system as I wanted to. I couldn't let it happen again, so I modified the system so that I can only use 20% of it at any given moment. The inhibitor has an emergency cutoff switch. Just push down the lightning bolt and I have my full power. Never, ever do that, no matter how hard I beg."

"Speaking of, what's your battery at now?"

"32%. It charges about 20% every day."

"Alright. And how much charge do you think it will take to heal all of your wounds?"

"Probably about 15%. I can be fully recovered and recharged by Saturday afternoon."

"Great, that's when we'll go after Cassie. Who is Cassie, by the way?"

"Oh, boy. That story will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, I feel like getting some sleep. Goodnight, John."

"Goodnight, Miles."

I started to climb down off the roof. Miles just laid down where he was. "And John," I looked back, "thanks for the talk."

"No problem." I smiled, knowing that I had finally made some progress.


	10. Chapter 9:Cassie

**AN: Sorry it took so long to get this up. This one was hard to write and I got lazy.**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Chapter 9: Cassie**

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my phone ringing. I didn't recognize the number on the caller ID. I picked up. "Hello?"

"John Colman?" said a gruff voice on the other line.

"Yes. How can I help you?"

"John, it's Paul Johnson." Oh, joy. The police commissioner. I wonder what he could possibly be calling about. "You and your little friend need to come in, now!"

"But sir-"

"No buts about it. He's wanted for the murder of five people, John. We can't ignore that anymore. Not after what happened with my daughter."

"Your daughter?"

He laughed. "He hasn't told you yet, has he? Well, you guys can come in and we can all hear his story."

"Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to respectfully decline your invitation."

"Well, some of my men are already on their way to your house. I suggest you go with them. There's nowhere you can go, John. Where do you think you can hide a mutant fox? I'll be expecting you soon." With that he hung up.

I walked out of my room to talk to Miles. I found him sitting on the couch. "Miles, there's something we need to talk about."

"The police are coming to pick us up." I was shocked. How had he-"I have very sensitive hearing."

"Oh, well, where's Nick?"

"I sent him home. We both knew he couldn't help me anymore, and I didn't want him getting caught up in all this."

A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. We went out and were met by two serious police officers. They drove us about fifteen minutes to the police station. As we entered, I noticed that there was an unusual amount of personnel in the building. We were taken to an interrogation room, where another five cops and Paul Johnson were waiting. We sat down. "Welcome, gentleman" said Johnson. "Why don't we get right to the point? What happened to my daughter?"

"I'll tell you on three conditions: No interruptions, no questions about my past, and no one but me, you and John." Johnson hesitated at Miles's requests, then sent everyone else out of the room. "Alright, let's begin. It started when I was eating breakfast at John's house two days ago:

_Miles sat there, looking at his breakfast, too depressed to eat. Suddenly, his keen ears detected voices. "Stay away from me. Do you know who I am?" It was a young woman._

_ "Hell yeah, but that's just gonna make this a whole lot more fun. Now stay still." A man's voice. Miles knew what this meant._

_ "I'll be back later!" he yelled as he flew out the window. He could still hear the conversation, and he flew towards the voices._

_ Woman: Don't touch me. Back off._

_ Man: It would be my pleasure. Not._

_ The woman screamed, and the man followed suit. Miles smiled to himself. It was always nice when the girl had some pepper spray. He landed and walked into the alley, wondering why any girl would wander into an alley alone, especially one right next to a club._

_ When he got to the area where the struggle was taking place, he took stock of his surroundings. Why in the world were they attempting a rape in an open alleyway? There were three attackers. One was still feeling the effects of the pepper spray; one was grabbing the girl, who looked to be about nineteen, and the other was standing back with some rope. That was when Miles realized that these must be Snell's men. He spoke up. "I think she deserve's a little more respect than you're giving her, don't you?"_

_ The guy holding the girl looked back at Miles. "Hey, Roscoe, take care of this guy. I'm a little busy right now." He smiled. The second guy, Roscoe, started to pull out his gun. Miles rushed him, broke his shooting arm, and gave him an elbow to the face that knocked him out cold._

_ Miles looked up at the first guy, who now had the girl pinned against the wall. "Do you have any idea how awkward that just sounded?" The guy sighed, pulled out his pistol, and was met by a fist to the face. He collapsed to the floor. The girl stared, breathing hard. "You might want to leave before they come to." With that, Miles turned to leave._

_ "Wait." He turned back. "I want you to meet my father."_

_ Miles was stunned. "Umm…why is that?"_

_ "Well, he's the police commissioner an-"_

_ "Hell no! I can't do that." He turned to leave again._

_ "Stop. We know you murdered two people."_

_ "Really? Why haven't I been taken in yet?"_

_ "Because we also know that crime around here has dropped dramatically. We need you on the streets. My father would be more likely to give you the key to the city than arrest you."_

_ "Wait, so you would just bend the rules because it's convenient for you?" He sighed. "Whatever. We can go see your dad if you want."_

_ "Thank you." They began to walk out of the alley. Suddenly, the side door to the club opened up. Miles grabbed Cassie and shielded her with his body as a gunshot rang out. Miles yelled in pain as the bullet hit him in the right shoulder. Blood oozed from the wound as he fell to his knees. Cassie screamed as she was shot in the foot._

_ He heard a voice behind him. "You actually tried to come on to Snell's property and break up his business? I'm afraid it's not that easy." With that, the shooter walked over and picked Cassie up off the floor. He then crouched next to Miles. "The great Miles Prower, who has caused my boss so much trouble." He held his pistol to Miles's head. "Unfortunately, my boss wouldn't want me to kill you right now, so I guess I have to let you go."_

_ "That's great news" said Miles. Suddenly, the shooter heard something clink to the floor. He looked down. Was that a bullet? Something smashed his temple, and he collapsed. "I'll just be taking my things." He knelt over Cassie. "Can you walk?"_

_ "I-I don't think so" she got out in a painful whisper._

_ "Don't worry. You don't have to." He picked her up off the floor and carried her out of the alley. "We'd better get away from here. Snell's men should be on to us soon."_

_ "Miles, how did-what just-are you alright?"_

_ "Yeah, don't worry about me." He was doing enough of that himself. He had just expended the last of his energy healing himself. He just had to hope that they would be able to get out of the area unnoticed. As they walked out onto the street, however, three big goons armed with automatic weapons. Miles acted fast, lifting up the manhole cover in the middle of the street and crouching behind it. The thugs opened fire as Miles carefully maneuvered himself into the sewer, making sure to keep hold of Cassie. He was sure that they would be safe here. Why would Snell have patrols in the sewers? He heard footsteps approaching around the corner. Oh, goody, Snell was paranoid. Miles ran with Cassie in his arms away from the pursuers. When he guessed that they had rounded the corner, he jumped off the concrete walkway into the water. Bullets whizzed above his head, and then the shooting stopped. Miles kept running for a few more seconds, letting the gunners run forward and take aim. He then jumped into the air and began flying, again barely avoiding the shots._

_But this time, as Miles was about to drop to the ground, a pistol shot rang out. Miles was hit on his left tail, sending him crashing to the ground. He twisted his body around in order to cushion Cassie from the fall. He painfully picked himself up off the ground and was subsequently shot in the right tail, then the right shoulder. He fell to his knees, breathing hard. But he picked himself up again, moving to pick up Cassie. He trudged along, wondering why nobody was following them. He rounded the corner and looked back. Nobody. That was strange. He looked down at Cassie, who was whimpering softly._

"_Don't worry, Cassie. I won't let them take you."_

"_Why are you doing this? Why don't you just .eave me here and save yourself? You could help a lot more people that way."_

"_No. I would never leave you. I won't let you sacrifice yourself for me, either. I'm going to save you, or die trying."_

"_Bu-"_

"_Please don't give me the "what about everyone else" speech! I've heard it all before. Don't worry, I'd give my life for you, but I won't have to. You're safe with me. Now, do you think you can walk?"_

"_Yeah, I think so." The pain in her foot had subsided significantly. She took a few tentative steps. She would be fine as long as she didn't put too much weight on it._

"_Good, because we need to split up. I don't think I can carry you anymore, and we need to move fast. Head down this passage" he gestured to a passage on the left. "When you reach the end, wait for me there. But first, we need a way to communicate." As he said this, he produced a small beige gadget and walked towards her. It was flat, except for a very thin, short needle extending from one of the sides. "I'm gonna put this behind your ear, and it should blend in with your skin. It's a two-way radio." He stopped as he was about to put it in. "Sorry, but this will probably hurt…a lot." With that, he stuck the needle into her head, penetrating the inner ear. Cassie screamed in pain. When it had dulled down to a kind of soreness, they went their separate ways. Miles pulled out a com-link a few minutes later. "Cassie, can you hear me?"_

"_Who's there?"_

"_What do you mean who's there? Who could it be?"_

"_Are-are you my conscience?"_

_Quoting movies when they were running for their lives? Well, if it helped her. "Yes, I'm your conscience. Tell me Cassie, do you see anything?"_

"_I see-I see a ligh-"_

_Miles waited for Cassie to finish her line. She didn't. "Cassie?" Silence. "Cassie?" Suddenly, Miles felt a stabbing pain in his back. In his weakened state, it was enough to bring him to the floor._

_The shooter from the alley crouched beside him again. "Don't worry. We'll take real good care of Cassie." Miles brought himself up to his hands and knees, coughing up blood. "If I were you, I'd stay down." With that, he kicked Miles viciously in the ribs and sent him rolling. Miles was somewhere between consciousness and a state of comatose. He lay there on the floor as the shooter walked away. When he finally got himself up out of the river of waste, it was too late to do anything. He had failed._

"And that's when I called John" Miles finished.

"And the security cameras caught the rest" added Paul. "Well, Miles, I hate to say it, but now that you're here, you must be placed un-"

"Stop. You can't arrest me."

"Oh, and why is that?"

"Because there's a reason Snell's operation is still running. You can't get to him, but I can. If you arrest me, you condemn your daughter. You'll never speak to her again."

"On the contrary, we have Snell in custody. His little outfit should fall apart soon."

"No. It's not a little outfit, and it is as well organized as it was with him at the helm."

"Whatever. But can you guarantee that if you go free, I'll speak to Cassie again? I don't think so."

"Just give me your word that I'm walking out of here."

I watched as Johnson gave this some thought. "Fine, but you better be able to deliver."

"You mean like this?" Miles said as he pulled out his com-link. "Cassie?"

"Yeah?" Cassie sounded defeated, tired. Miles and Johnson both winced.

"I have someone here who wants to speak to you." He handed the communicator to Johnson.

"Cassie?"

"Dad? What are you doing with-" she sighed. "Dad, don't tell me you did what I think you did!"

"Umm…nooo" he said sheepishly. I could tell he had a good relationship with his daughter. He didn't want to ruin it.

Another sigh. "Dad, you have to let Miles go. He's my only hope for getting out of here, and he's the only one that can clean up our streets. Don't let your bitterness blind you."

"Whatever you say, sweetheart." He looked to be on the verge of crying. "Cassie, have they…have they done anything to you?"

"Pshh, do you even have to ask?" Another mutual wince from Miles and Johnson.

"Well don't worry, we're coming to get you out soon. I promise."

"Okay. Oh, someone's coming! Gotta go!" With that, the conversation ended.

Johnson looked up at Miles. "We're gonna need a plan."

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><p><strong>Not my best, but certainly not my worst. If you have something to say about the rape scene, about how I don't know anything about rape, you are absolutely right, and I don't really want to know, either. Please, no inappropriate reviews.<strong>


	11. Announcement

**To anybody who was really anticipating the next chapter, this is not it. Sorry. This is an announcement to say that I will be on vacation for the next two weeks and so I will not be updating. Unfortunate, but true. Anyway, I felt like leaving you with this little announcement: There will be a sequel to this story. (If you hate Renegade, don't be alarmed, unless, of course, you believe that all sequels are worse than the originals, in which case, be very alarmed!) Honestly, I can't wait to write the sequel, and I'll tell you why. Because it will be a crossover with inFAMOUS, a video game with an awesome storyline. The main characters are going to be Tails, John Colman, probably Cassie, Cole MacGrath, and most likely another female character. Alrighty then, I will see you all in a few weeks and hopefully I can get my head in the present to finish Renegade. God bless us, every one!**


	12. Chapter 10: Revalation

**Well, I'm back, and after two weeks, I'm ripe with twists. However, I have some bad news. I have no idea how often I'll be updating now that school will be starting up again. And then there's the sequel! Oh, boy!**

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><p><em><strong>Renegade<strong>_

**Chapter 10: Revelation**

"So this is your big plan?" I asked skeptically. We were back at the police station on Thursday afternoon. Johnson was again in the room with us. "This is what you were all excited about?" I held up a pair of sunglasses Miles had just handed me. They looked amazingly…ordinary.

"Well, that's part of it. My plan is to go into the Calizar and stake it out tomorrow, get a sense of the layout. Then on Sa-"

"Hold on. We're just going to walk into a club?" Miles nodded. "That's a front for a sex slave operation?" He nodded again. "Do you have any idea what we're going to see in there?" I yelled incredulously.

"Nothing. That's what those are for."

"Sunglasses?"

"Oh, yeah. I spent many precious hours making sunglasses. You got me" he said sarcastically. "Why don't you put them on? And if everyone would please be silent, you'll see how they work."

I slipped on the sunglasses. It was weird. For the first few seconds, I saw a dark green background with silhouettes of Miles and Johnson in a slightly brighter green, but then the image faded away. A few seconds of awkward silence passed. "Okay, so what am I sup-whoa!" The image came back, slightly brighter than before, and it shot up in brightness a second after my exclamation. I understood what I was seeing now. "Hello." The image came back. "HELLO." The image brightened. "HELLO! MY NAME IS INIGO MONTOYA! YOU KILLED MY FATHER! PREPARE TO DIE!" The image approached yellow during my rant.

"What the hell are you yelling for?" asked Johnson, clearly annoyed.

"They're echolocation glasses. The louder the sound, the more prominent the image" Miles answered him. Then he turned to me. "And unless you want to burn an image into your eyes, I suggest you don't yell." I took off the glasses and handed them back to Miles. "Anyway, John and I will go in wearing these and scout the area tomorrow. Then on Saturday, we can bring the hammer down."

"'The hammer'?" asked Johnson.

"I was thinking we could use a police raid as a diversion as I go in and pick up Cassie."

"Well, Miles, I wish it were that easy. However, we need to have a search warrant to go in there, and we can't get one without probable cause."

Miles looked at him menacingly. "Are you really trying to tell me that you wouldn't be able to get a warrant to search a known front for a sex slave op?"

Johnson stared right back, not intimidated by the under-five-foot fox in front of him. "That is exactly what I'm saying."

"Well, then, you can just count me out. We're done." He walked out of the station as we watched him, dumbfounded.

Johnson broke the silence. "Wait. What just happened?"

I sighed. "I'll go get him." I jogged out after Miles, calling his name.

He turned around, stopping in the crowded sidewalk. "What?" I could hear the rage in his voice.

"So this is how it's going to be? You're just going to abandon Cassie, just like that?"

"Hell no. But I'm not going to work with Johnson, that's for sure."

"Why not?" I asked. I could see something had really ticked Miles off.

"Do you really expect me to believe that he can't get a warrant into the Calizar? I don't think so! He wants me dead, John! And he's been working with Snell this entire time!"

I smiled. "Miles, I think you're overreacting."

"Oh, really? Then why is Johnson on the phone with him right now!" he yelled.

"Wait, what? What is he saying?"

"I don't know! I've got someone distracting me!" Miles was breathing hard. He was about to flip his lid. "Whatever. We'll just scout the area tomorrow and figure out a plan after that."

As he finished, my phone started ringing. It was an unknown number. I picked up. Before I could say anything, a gravelly voice spoke. "My old friend John Coleman. How have you been these past five years?"

I was speechless. I knew this voice. I knew it like I knew the cemetery my family dragged me to every year. "Siphon?" Miles had been listening intently to my conversation. Now he looked confused.

"I'm glad to see you remember me, John. However, I dropped the alias after you got too close." He laughed. "You thought the trail went cold. You blamed yourself for your failure. You even tried to take your own life. That gave me immense pleasure, by the way. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And do you know why? Because you were literally steps away from finding me. Would you like to know my real name, Coleman? It just so happens to be Richard. Richard Snell." I froze. It couldn't be. It wasn't fair! How could I be so stupid! I did the only thing that I could to ease the pain. I cursed. It didn't help. "Oh, John. What I wouldn't give to see your face right now. Unfortunately, your friend would make that rather difficult. Which reminds me of my initial reason for calling. Miles, I know you can hear me, and boy do I have some news for you! I just thought I'd let you know that I'm staying at the Station Square Maximum Security Penitentiary. Frankly, it makes no difference seeing as I have every cop and official that matters paid off. You'd be surprised the kind of profit my business turns. Anyway, I've been given full control of the prison facilities thanks to Paul Johnson. He just told me that you were going to try to save Cassie on your own. That's why I'm having her moved here. Well, actually, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to break Johnson, either. We agreed that no one would lay a hand on her, and she would be returned safely to him once you were dead, though I'm almost sure my men have already broken that promise. I guess I'll just have to break it some more. Of course, had you died on that first day, I may have been able to make good on that promise. I think I'll leave you with that thought. And John, your sister says hello." With that, Snell went into a fit of laughing as he hung up the phone.

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><p><strong>Ah, the old twistaroo. What does Snell, or Siphon, have to do with John and his sister? Wait, John has a sister? Anyway, we'll adress that next time, as well as Tails' role as a "hero". Can he really pull off a rescue from a prison loaded with thugs, crooked cops, and...well, that detail can wait. Until next time, whenever it may be, God bless us, every one!<strong>


	13. Chapter 11: Not Alone

**AN: Yes, it's true! After five months, Renegade is back! I actually may have salvaged it with this chapter. Please review.**

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><p>Slowly fading away<p>

You're lost and so afraid

Where is the hope

In a world so cold

**"Not Alone", Red**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11: Not Alone<strong>

Miles ran through the pouring rain. He didn't know where he was running to, he just needed to try to escape this whole situation. Why was everything going so wrong? It wasn't fair! Why did Cassie have to suffer for her father's corruption! Why couldn't he save her! Why! That was the question that continued to echo in his head even as he slumped in an alley, sobbing softly. _God, where are you? Why is this happening to me ? Can't you at least kill me now? Why do you torture me?_

"Tails." The fox lifted his head. A shepherd with a long white robe stood before him, the world behind Him an endless white. "Tails, I think it's time we had a little talk."

"Sorry, but it's two months overdue!" Miles snapped.

He sighed. "Tell me, Tails, why are you so angry with Me?"

Miles scoffed. "Really? Do You even have to ask? Let's start with me being on earth, screwing everything up, heading in a downward spiral, and taking everyone else down with me! Is this why You brought me here? To add salt to the wound?" Miles started to cry again. "You took Cosmo from me…and then You brought me here…and You left me! You left me!" He dropped to his knees openly sobbing.

The Shepherd sighed again. "Tails, do you think I enjoy watching you suffer? Do you think I don't understand? Tails, I went through hell so that no one else would have to. I know what it feels like." He knelt down next to Miles. "But you know what? I also know what it feels like to conquer…to overcome."

Tails looked up at him. "To finish the race."

"To endure."

Tails' voice grew firm. "To triumph."

"To stand on a rock."

"To be strong and courageous…"

"…For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." He laughed, His face radiating joy. "Yes. Welcome back, Tails."

They stood up together. "Thanks for bringing me back."

"Now, I think it's time you get going. You've got a few people depending on you tonight. Best not to keep them waiting."

"Yes, sir!" Tails exclaimed, feeling peace flow over him like it hadn't in months. His voice was even getting back to normal. He turned to leave.

"And Tails." He turned his head. "I am always with you." Tails ran off to find John with those words ringing in his ears.

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><p>He walked into John's house. It was immersed in darkness. "John?" Nothing. He called out again, louder this time. Still no answer. He did, however, hear a door creak upstairs. He went up to check it out.<p>

Strange, the door was flung open. Stranger, that door was normally locked. Tails walked slowly into the room, looking around to make sure nothing was amiss. The room itself consisted of a few bookshelves along the wall and a desk in the center. There were plenty of papers scattered across the desk. It looked like they were mostly old newspaper clippings. Tails approached and began to read them, trying his best to do so in chronological order.

THE SADIST OF STATION SQUARE: Station Square has been reeling these past few weeks from fear and anguish after a narcissistic serial killer has brought his body count up to three. All of the victims have been young women, and there is evidence that they had been sexually assaulted before there were killed…

SIPHON STRIKES AGAIN: Police were unnerved today after they discovered another victim of Siphon's games. He earned his nickname when police psychologists commented that he seems to feed off the pain he inflicts on his victims. The body count has now risen to seventeen, and police have been unable to identify any of the victims due to the intense mutilations…

SIPHONED OFF: Siphon has taken another victim today. This time, it was 23 year old Lucy Colman, whose brother works as a police detective. Colman is Siphon's twenty-first victim…

So that was the deal with John's sister? Snell had taken her. But if he left the mutilated bodies to be found, what did he mean by "Your sister says hello"? Tails read on.

A FLEEING SIPHON: After more than two years, the trail of a ruthless serial killer has abruptly gone cold. Siphon, as he was called, apparently bit off more than he could chew when he kidnapped Lucy Colman, sister of police detective John Colman. The latter has been on Siphon's tail ever since, in a relentless attempt to save his sister. However, there was sad news today after Siphon apparently disappeared without a trace…

Tails kept looking over the papers. He was surprised when he found some pictures amidst the sheets of text. He studied them. They looked like they were from some security cameras. They were horribly grainy, and Tails had to look closely to try and figure out…what was that? There was an object common to all the pictures, but Tails was having a hard time making it out. It looked like…him! Unless, of course someone had let a gorilla out of the zoo, which was highly unlikely. Why would John have pictures of him? Tails checked the date on them. One month ago, two years after Siphon had disappeared. Tails had learned enough. He knew where he would find John.

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><p><em>John sat at his desk, rifling through his papers again, desperately trying to find something new. There had to be something new!<em>

"_John." He looked up, and there was the Shepherd._

_John could barely contain his excitement. "Finally! Are You going to help me find Lucy."_

"_No." His face fell. "I'm sorry John, but some things just need to happen."_

"_But why to Lucy! Why to me?"_

"_John, do you believe that I love you?" He hesitated. "John?"_

_He sighed. "I guess."_

"_Well then, that's why this is happening to you."_

"_What! That makes no sense!"_

"_Of course it does. Remember John, all things work together for the good of those who love Me. And many times, they're better off. That's why this is happening. You don't realize it yet, but this experience will help you so much in the future."_

"_But how?"_

"_You're just going to have to trust me, John. Let her go."_

"_Can You help me?"_

"_I am always with You." With that, He faded away, leaving John to revel in his newfound peace._

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><p>Tails approached John, who was crouching in front of a gravestone. John heard his footsteps and turned his head. "How did you know where to find me?"<p>

"It wasn't that hard. There's only one dead Lucy Colman anywhere near here."

"So you found out. Did you look through my office?"

"Yeah." Tails sat down next to him. "I saw those pictures you had of me."

He let out a humorless laugh. "Well, I thought about contacting you when you first showed up. I thought that maybe you could help me find Lucy. But then I figured that that kind of stuff only happens in movies and comic books." He sighed. "I guess…I guess I just never really let her go."

"Then maybe we can go and find her. We know where she would be."

John shook his head." I hope she's dead. She'd be better off that way. And even if she wasn't, how in the world would we get her out of that prison?"

"With God's help." John gave him a sideways glance that said "What happened to you?" "We had a little chat, smoothed everything out."

"Is that what happened to your voice?" Tails nodded. John once again had to remind himself that he was only fifteen. "So is it Tails now?"

"You bet."

"All right then, Tails. You've apparently pulled off stunts like this before. What's the usual plan?" They both stood up and began walking to John's car.

"It normally goes something like 'Rush in, beat up the bad guys, save the hostages, and get out before the place crumble, explodes, or anything to that effect." He said so casually, like it was something he did every day.

John slowed his walk to a stop. "Uh, Tails. I'm suddenly not too sure about this."

Tails laughed. "Don't worry. You'll be fine."

They got into the car and drove off to the penitentiary.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow. That turned out much better than I thought it would. Tell me what you think! And next time, Tails and John storm the gates!<strong>


	14. Chapter 12: The Nest

**AN: This story just keeps haunting me!**

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><p>See, today isn't "back in the day" anymore<br>I know a little more than I did before  
>So, don't forget before you try bringing me down<br>What goes around always comes back around

**- "Bring Me Down", Pillar**

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><p>"…and then the asteroid hits and the world blows up."<p>

John looked at Tails, heartily confused and annoyed. They were a few streets down from the prison. A few alley crossings and there it would be "What? What does that have to do with anything!"

Tails shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, it's 2012. It could happen." John found it incredible that the young kitsune could be so cool and collected. His own nerves were so frayed, he was ready to come undone at any given moment. "Anyway, back to the plan. I go up and look for snipers while you move in on the ground. When I give you the signal, you walk up and distract the guards at the front. Once we're inside, we'll have to start making stuff up on the fly."

So, the plan was to basically storm a fortress full of people who want to kill you and make the plan up on the fly. How could he say that with a straight face! "How many times have you done this before, exactly?"

"After two wars and a crapload of peacetime conflict, mm, I'd say about, I don't know, somewhere around a lot. Trust me. Oh, one more thing before I go. I need you to crank my ES system back up." John had completely forgotten about Tails's ES system. He now realized that he still must not have been completely healed from the wounds he had suffered. He turned the disc decorated with a lightning bolt on the back of Tails's sheath to face right side up. A visible wave of energy rushed through his muscles and his wounds healed. "Woah! That'll wake you up in the morning!"

"What?"

"I don't know. Alright, head over to the pen, I'll be right above you." John walked forward slowly, his .22 drawn, as Tails climbed up the nearest building. The silence was oppressive, as if something were waiting around the corner to break it. He reached the end of the first alley and poked his head out. No one on the street. He shuffled to the other side as quickly as he could and repeated the process in the next alley. Now he could see the prison on the far side of the next alley across the street. Just as he was getting ready to cross-

_BANG!_

He pulled out the comlink Tails had given him. "Tails, what happened!" More shots began to ring out, both on the buildings above him and from the prison.

"The snipers had each other covered better than I thought! I'm pinned down!" John could hear the distress in his voice. Apparently he wasn't used to plans going this bad this early. "Do something about the guys on the ground. I'll take care of these guys!" Without a word, John hurried across the street and through the alley. The prison loomed in the space in front of him, and there were three "guards" standing at the front, armed with automatic weapons. They were shooting at something on the rooftop of one of the buildings. That was where they must have had Tails pinned down. John took careful aim with his pistol and shot one of the guards in the leg. He fell to the floor with a cry of surprise and pain. The other two looked back, saw their fallen comrade, and immediately looked towards the alley and saw John, who quickly ducked back. One began shooting at him while the other shouted into a communicator. The third slowly got back up and joined the first in his assault. Dust and chunks of wall began to fill the alley, and it only got worse when the snipers joined the onslaught.

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><p>Tails could sense the shots stop striking the edge of the building he was on. He cautiously lifted his head to see that all of the goons were now focusing their firepower on the alley on the other side of the small square. The snipers had moved to the roof of the prison. However, the guards remained at their post. His comlink beeped. "I need a little help down here."<p>

"Relax, it's on the way. It looks like they're trying to keep us away more than they're trying to kill us." Tails began making his way across the rooftops, attempting to flank the snipers.

"That's not such a comforting thought when they're blasting away at you."

"Guess not." He reached the back of the prison roof, closing in on the nearest sniper. They were lined up side by side on their stomachs on the edge of the roof. Tails pulled the first one back and knocked him out with a kick to the head. The second stood and tried to swing his gun around, but Tails shoved it into his face, knocking him down into the square. The final two were smarter, abandoning their guns and advancing with their fists at the ready. One stood in front of him while the other moved around him. Tails smiled as he dodged a punch from the first, grabbed his arm, and threw him into the second. The second was startled by the move, and threw his buddy off him, only to be met by a roundhouse kick to the face. Tails took the last sniper out as he was trying to get back up, knocking his head against the floor. "Snipers are down. I'm dropping." He jumped down into the square, just behind the three guards. He knocked two of their heads together, then kicked the third's knee forward. As he collapsed backwards, Tails gave him an elbow in the face. "All right, you're clear."

"Nice work" John said to him as he joined him in front of the door.

"Thanks, but this is just the beginning. The real fight starts once we get inside." With that, he opened the door. "After you."

John grimaced. "Gee, thanks." He entered. Tails followed right behind him.

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><p>John's phone rang. "Hello."<p>

"What the hell is taking you guys so long!" It was Siphon. "I'm getting bored. I could just kill Cassie and your sister right now."

They had already searched an entire wing of the prison, only to find it empty. "It's not our fault you've got yourself holed up. Just tell us where you are, and we'll be there, taking you down."

Siphon laughed. "I doubt it. I'm in the mess hall. Where else would you have a massive throwdown. Oh, the game I have in store for the two of you will be so much fun. Are you ready?" The line went dead.

"Mess hall?" Tails asked.

John nodded. "Yeah. I wonder what that psycho's got in store for us." They headed to the mess hall. What they found was a screaming hoard of thugs, most of them splotched with some sort of black tar. This was going to be fun. Not.

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><p><strong>AN: Please review.<strong>


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